PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF AMPHIBIOUS CRAFT

Firdaus Bin Mahamad, Ab Saman Abd Kader Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Malaysia E-Mail: firdaus_mahamad@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT This work is to present conceptual design of an amphibious craft that has great reliability and terrain capabilities. This craft is designed to operate like ATV (all-terrain vehicle) that can travel at extreme environment with a suspension system designed to move on uneven surfaces. The difference is, this craft has amphibious capability that can travel both land and water, where practical ATV cant do. In this work consists the calculation that involves in determining the center of gravity, hydrostatic force, wheel size, engine power, stability assessment and initial costs for development an amphibious craft. Finally, it is proposed that this concept can be improved in the future because it has the potential to be applied in Malaysia as a recreational craft or craft that can be used for patrol and surveillance by the authorities. Keywords: amphibious, roller craft, stability. 1.0 INTRODUCTION terrain, which consists of mangrove swamps, lakes, rivers and others. But in this situation, ATV vehicle have a problem through the river and swamp areas, because, ATV unable to float on water with small and heavy wheel. So the solution needs to be done by introducing a vehicle that is capable of amphibian through swamps and rivers without any problem. This vehicle is capable to drive at terrain area and also on water which other ATV cant do. 2.0 AN AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLE

Tourism industry in Malaysia has been traditionally concentrated and promoted towards international markets since its infancy stage in 1960s. Until todays, the tourism sector has grown tremendously and has been ranked the second largest foreign income earners behind manufacturing in 2000 and its subsequent years [Tourism Malaysia, 2003]. Despite the importance of alluring more and more international travelers to visit Malaysia, the domestic front cannot be overlooked for their vast benefits and numerous untapped potentials. After a string of crises that effect international arrivals on recent years, the domestic tourism industry in Malaysia started to be given priority by the Malaysian government. One of the activities of the tourism sector is extreme sports has grown extensively today. This sport involves driving ATVs in the appearance of challenging terrain, for example in the forest and coast. Tourists can enjoy the beauty of nature through this activity. As we know, Malaysia consists of a variety of unique

An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian), is a vehicle or craft, that is a means of transport, viable on land as well as on water just like an amphibian. This definition applies equally to any land and water transport, small or large, powered or unpowered, ranging from amphibious bicycles, ATVs, cars, buses, trucks, RVs, and military vehicles, all the way to the very largest hovercraft. Classic landing craft are generally not considered amphibious vehicles, although they are part of amphibious assault.

Apart from the distinc m ction in siz zes mention ned above, two main categories of amphibi ious vehicle are immedia ately apparen nt: those tha travel on a air-cushio (Hovercra at an on aft) and thos that don't. Amongst th latter, man se . he ny designs were prompt by the de ted esire to expan nd the off-r road capabili ities of land-vehicles to an "all-terra ain" ability, in some c cases not on nly focused on creating a transport that will wo ork on land and water, but also on intermediat n tes like ice, snow, mud, marsh, swam etc. mp 2.1 Possible Future Uses

i. ii.

Extrem sport activity. mes Eco-T Tourism; an amphibious craft is s ideal for wild derness exp ploration, adven nture tours, customer shu c uttles and photo safaris ove land and through o er water. CONCEPT DEV VELOPMEN NT

.0 3.

Gener ration of id deas will b done be ac ccording to the criteria considered im t c mportant in the design concept. T n n This concept vehicle t modification will be p m produced us sing the morphologica chart base on Figure 3.1. m al o After all the concept ha been as de eveloped, all of them ha been ass l ave sessed by us sing matrix a analysis meth to find w hod which the be concept that will be th final conc est t he cept. The fin concept will be chosen as the concept nal th will be focus for further des hat sign and de evelopment. In the other hand, there will be r e fe analyses o the final concept. ew on c

There are a number of p possible futu ure uses that this project aims to acco t t omplish whi ich are discu ussed in furth detail in this section. her 2.1.1 Security En nforcement

The security en nforcement guards (coa ast guard) h have been us sing basic sm craft su mall uch as small speed bot for many y l years and the eir use is li imited to swamp area an along coa nd ast. So, there are many p e possibilities f amphibio for ous vehicle u uses. Some of these migh include: o ht i. ii. iii. 2.1.2 Patrol and intrusion detection of illegal immigrant. rescue (SAR of victim. R) Search and r Observation of illegal lo n oggers bracki ish mangrove. Reactions A Activity

The use of a all-terrain ve ehicles (ATV Vs) for recre eation and other outdoor activities is a r s relativel ly recent phenomeno on, extendin ng primarily across th last dec y he cades. In the t Malaysia, the interse ection of two factors the o t expansio on of pa articipation in outdo oor recreatio as Baby Boomers b on y became youn ng adults, and development of technologi ies leading to new form of motor ms rized and no onmotorize transport. An amphibious craft m ed may possible can uses fo recreation and may e or nal ybe far than that because this vehi n icle can trav vel both lan and wa nd ater. Some of the mig ght include:

Figur 3.1: Morph re hological Ch hart

4.0

DESIGN CONFIGURA ATION

The develo opment of this design s rt original buggy includes some par of the o design w where the selection wil be made to s ll ensure th the comp hat ponents can be maintain ned or shoul be modifi ld fied. Among the importa ant components that nee to be dev ed veloped are as listed be elow: i. ii. iii. iv. v. 4.1 Chassis Suspension system Steering system Wheel desig gn Engine Chassis mod dification

one or arm has two m mounting Each wishbo oints to the chassis an one join at the e nd nt po kn nuckle [R.K Singal, 2009]. The shock K. ab bsorber and coil spri d ing mount to the wishbones to control ve w o ertical move ement at un neven terra ain environ nment. Figure 4.2 sh howed suspe ensions syste for front and rear em ax xle:

Figure 4.1 shows the state of the t modified chassis for amphibiou craft. It can d us c be seen where the m middle of the buggy chass sis is still m maintained a usual. In the front an as nd rear of the cha f assis has been add ded reinforce ement to stre engthen the c chassis. At the t back of chassis engine moun f e nting position modified bigger than the origina chassis. T d n al The chassis h also bee extended slightly to the has en t rear and front to ma is stable due to high d ake her than orig ginal chassis s.

Figure 4.2: S F Suspensions S System for F Front and Rear Ax xle 4. .3 Steeri system ing

The steering sy ystem used in this de esign was sk steering system. The steering kid e is accomplish s hed by changing the relative sp peeds of the two tracks. For examp when ple, moving straig forward, both side wh m ght heels are moving at the same speed; when turn m e ning, the in nside wheel slows down while the outside e wheel speeds up proporti w ionately. The vehicle e tu urns in the direction o the slowe wheel of er [B Benjamin Shamah, 1999] ].

Fig gure 4.1: Mo odified Chass Frame sis 4.2 Suspension system

The suspens sion use in the front an nd e e rear axle are double wishbone suspension. A double w wishbone (or upper and lower A-arm m) suspensi ion is an independen suspension nt design using two (occasion o nally paralle el) wishbon ne-shaped ar rms to loca the wheel. ate

Figure 4.3: Sk Steering System Mec kid chanisms

For water m maneuvering this steerin g, ng system is more effective co ompare oth her steering system that turning by front or re t y ear wheel. Figure 4.3 showed the steering syste em mechani isms that will be u used in th his amphibi ious craft. 4.4 Wheel desig gn

The wheel provides the surface ar e rea needed for traction and weigh distributio n ht on. Typicall the wheel soil interaction provid ly l des the defo ormation tha absorbs shock loadin at ng and dim minishes susp pension lift. Convention nal tires suc cceed by us sing flexible elastomeri e ics and pneu umatic inflat tion to confo to terrain orm n. However, in order to b amphibio n be ous the tires must be abl to function effectively in le n an envir ronment with a wet and dry, and al h d lso provide the buoyanc to an am cy mphibious cra aft during m movement o water. Th final whe on he eel design f front and rear wheel in the design for d l project i show in Fi is igure 4.4 belo ow:

Figure 4.5: Kawasaki FD D671D-S00 Engine Table 4.1: En T ngine Specifi fications of K Kawasaki FD671D-S00 Engine F 0

Figure 4.4:Design for Front an Rear Whee nd el 4.5 Engine Sele ection

En ngine Speci ifications Type 4-s stroke, Over rhead V-valve, Liqu uidcoo oled, Horizontal sha aft Bore x Str roke 78 x 78 mm Dimensions (L x 520 x 458 x 580 mm D s W x H) (m mm) Displacem ment 745 cm Dry weig ght 57.0 kg Maximum p M power 17.2kW (23.4 hp) / 4 output t 3600 rpm Maximum torque 56.1N-m (41.4 M 4ft.lbs) / 2400rpm 2 Number of 2 cylinder rs Oil capac city 2.0 liters 0
5. .0 MAT TERIAL

The total minimum power to m overcom tractive resistance o the craft is me r of about 4h and max hp ximum powe up to 25h er hp, this is because for safety pu r urpose vehic cle speed lim to 50 km when clim mit m/h mbing a slop pe. After do oing some observation and researc ch, one suit table engine has been selected. T e The Kawasak FD671D-S engine w maximu ki S00 with um power o 23 HP as could be seen in the Figu of c n ure 4.5:

Mater selection is very imp rial n portant of th whole design. A vehicle u he used for re ecreation and patrol activities has to be able d o to work in various, possibly h o hazardous co onditions (hi temperat igh ture or moist ture). To make sure the vehicle is safe and re m e eliable, it ne to be co eed onstructed us sing carefully chosen y an well tested material. nd Comp posite are us for vast majority sed of the constr f ruction, part ticularly FR (Fiber RP

Reinforce Plastics) for construction wheels. Composites have stronger structure, are lighter, cheaper, faster and easier to manufacture. For chassis fabrication, aluminum alloy was chooses because have high strength and lighter compare to mild steel. FRP and aluminum are corrosion resistant which is greater for a craft thats going to have much contact with water. 6.0 STABILITY

7.0

DESIGN SPECIFICATION

The design specification of an amphibious craft is the result for this project. The design specification will be including all aspect about an amphibious craft that has been got from analysis before. The design specification of an amphibious craft is show in Table 7. Table 7: Developed an Amphibious Craft Specification CHARACTERISTICS SPECIFICATION Capacity Single seat, one person. Overall length 2652mm Overall width 3363mm Overall height 1741mm Wheelbase 1832mm Gross vehicle weight 243.02 kg Drive system Shaft Front Suspension Independent, Double Wishbone, oil-damped, spring preloaded, 5 way adjustable. Rear suspension Independent, Double Wishbone, oil-damped, spring preloaded, 5 way adjustable Front brakes Dual disc, hydraulically operated Rear Brake Sealed oil-bathed multi-disc Steering type Skid Steering System Drive type 4-wheel drive Transmission Automatic 2 speed with reverse and diff-locked 4WD Wheel size Front: Diameter: 0.70m Width : 0.56m Front: Diameter: 0.70m Width : 0.56m Max. speed 50km/hr.

Intact stability, height of the center of gravity, and static stability diagram of a multihull ship are determined by the space and weight distributions. Metacentric height, as an index of transverse stability, can vary within a wide range from the value typical for conventional ships to values by an order of magnitude higher than that. Static stability diagrams an also vary greatly. Usually, stability puts no constrains when designing the multi- hull ships [V. Dubrovsky et al., 2001]. The essence of stability calculations is finding the force couple between buoyancy and weigh. This is the moment of force which a stable craft develops to counteract the overturning moments arising from external forces. From the configuration of the body, KB = 10cm, KG = 83cm. Then, GM = 132cm. The craft has positive stability for the Meta center in above the center of gravity (Figure 6).
M

Figure 6: Craft roll motion

8.0

DISCUSSION

This project is focusing on the preliminary design that including the hydrostatic calculation to determine the optimum size of wheel for an amphibious craft. The design structural is the design of the modified chassis from original dune buggy chassis that involved component design consideration. The weight and center gravity of craft is also calculated in this project in order to do stability assessment to know whether that craft is save or not when travel through water. And finally cost estimation of this project was calculated to get the initial cost in fabricating this craft. This proposed projects that can be continue by next project student for their future project in prototype model development. In this project there is still several aspects that can be improve or upgraded in the future. Such as, for wheel design should doing further research in undershot water to improve the performance of wheel propulsion and power estimation. 9.0 CONCLUSION

had been done by using light weight material and can wind stand from surrounding environment. Drive system used in this design is 4 wheel drive system and for steering system is skid steer system. This system was being selected because of its high efficiency during moving and maneuvering on water. Finally, an analysis for stability assessment by using basic stability for multihull method, based on data and information from the wheel design. The outcome of the analysis for the design was the value GMT is positive and adequate initial stability. Therefore, as a conclusion, the design for an amphibious craft had been successful produced thus fulfilling the criteria, objective and primary target of the study. REFERENCES [1] Ron Champion (2002). Build Your Own Off-Road Buggy. Sparkford: Haynes Publishing. [2] Allan Bonnick (2008). Automotive Science and Mathematics. Hungary: Elsevier Ltd. [3] Herb Adams (1993). Chassis Engineering. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group. [4] R.N.Jazar (2008.), Vehicle dynamics theory and application, Springer. [5] R.K. Singal (2009). Automobile Engineering. New Delhi :S K Kataria & Sons. [6] Pater A. Silva (1971). Small Craft Engineering: Structures.Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan, [7] V. Dubrovsky and A. Lyakhovitsky (2001). Multi-Hull Ships. Ontario, Canada: Backbone Publishing.

Overall, this design had been successful in its main objective which is to produce an amphibious craft. The main basic concept that had being selected to be used in this kind of study for development an amphibious craft is cylindrical shape of wheel and with modified buggy chassis. This concept is more practical based on the selection technique used during the design process. From the design, wheel size was calculated based on hydrostatic calculation to estimate the buoyancy size that need for support an amphibious craft. In case chassis design, the chassis design was taken from original buggy chassis and some modification for new chassis in order to suit an amphibious craft design requirement. Meanwhile, for material selection

[8] C.B. Barrass and D.R. Derrett (2006). Ship Stability for Master and Mates. 6th ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. [9] Nor Tajol Bin Sudarman (2007). Design of An Amphibious Motorcycle. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai: Bachelor Degree Thesis. [10] Mahyuddin Bin Zainal Abidin (2006). Conversion of Atv For Agriculture Purpose. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai: Bachelor Degree Thesis. [11] Benjamin Shamah (1999). Experimental Comparison of Skid Steering Vs. Explicit Steering for a Wheeled Mobile Robot. The Robotics Institute Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh Pennsylvania: Master Degree Thesis. [12] E. Faruk Kececi, Gang Tao (2006). "Adaptive vehicle skid control," Mechatronics 16 291301. [13] Alexander, K.V. (1983). The Lifting Paddlewheel, a non-buoyancy Wheel Enabling High Speed Amphibious Craft to Run on Water Surface. University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Thesis Ph. D: Mechanical Engineering. [14] Barnaby, K.C. (1969). Basic Naval Architecture. 6th ed. London, Hutchinson. 507 p. [15] Kearsey, J.A. (1971). The Rollercraft. Hovercraft and Hydrofoil, 10, 12: 14-25. Sept. 1971. [16] Silverleaf, F. and Cook, F.G.R. (1969). A Comparison of Some Features of HighSpeed Marine Craft. Hovercraft and Hydrofoil, 8, 7: 6-15. April 1969. [17] Taggart, R. (1969). Marine Propulsion: Principle and Evolution. Houston, Texas.

[18] Allegra E. Horward (1993). Amphibious Vehicle. (U.S. Patent 5,178,088). [19] Thomas Roering (2008). Amphibious Recreation Vehicle. (U.S. Patent 7,329,161 B2) [20] Longdill et al. (2006). Amphibious Vehicle. (U.S. Patent 2006/0199449 A1) [21] Queveau et al. (2007). Amphibious OffRoad Vehicle. (U.S. Patent 7,211,983 B2) [22] Amphibious Vehicle. Retrieved on12 December 2011, 8.00pm. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibious _vehicle. [23] Fibreglass Materials. Retrieved on 28 November 2011, 3.00pm. From www.cfsnet.co.uk. [24] Russian amphibious offroader, theres no stopping it! (February 2, 2010). Retrieved on 12 December 2011, 10.00pm. From http://chrisescars.com/russianamphibious-offroader/. [25] Aluminum Price. Retrieved on 17 December 2011, 19.00pm. From http://www.metals4u.co.uk/detail.asp?cat _id=22&prd_id=977. [26] Tourism Malaysia (2003). Tourism in Malaysia: Key performance indicators 2002. Kuala Lumpur: Planning & Research Division, Tourism Malaysia.